


just in time

by orphan_account



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Floo Network, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Kissing, Light Angst, Long-Distance Relationship, Marriage Proposal, Minor Leta Lestrange/Theseus Scamander, Minor Queenie Goldstein/Jacob Kowalski, New Year's Eve, New Year's Kiss, Post-Movie 1: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-26
Updated: 2017-12-26
Packaged: 2019-02-22 07:05:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13161792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Having someone to kiss and embrace and with whom to ring in the new year wasn’t necessarily a promise of a fruitful relationship.  Just as having no one by your side wasn’t a promise otherwise.That was what Tina continued to tell herself as she sipped from the glass of wine she’d poured earlier in the evening.





	just in time

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ravensnwritingdesks](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ravensnwritingdesks/gifts).



Tina knew in her heart that superstitions and old wives’ tales weren’t anything to base one’s life around.  

Having someone to kiss and embrace and with whom to ring in the new year wasn’t necessarily a promise of a fruitful relationship.  Just as having no one by your side wasn’t a promise otherwise.  

That was what she continued to tell herself as she sipped from the glass of wine she’d poured earlier in the evening.  

She wasn’t even certain luck was something she needed to worry about.  She had an excellent balance of good and bad in her life and none of it had to do with luck.  Unless one counted how she’d come to be in her present position, then she supposed luck might start to have firmer footing.

Regardless of luck, good  _ or _ bad, Tina knew that nothing could be done for her present predicament.  She watched the clock tick down towards midnight and she listened to her sister’s soft voice as Queenie whispered sweet nothings to her Jacob in the kitchen, wishing  _ she _ could have just a little bit more of the kosher wine they kept for special occasions.  

But alcohol wasn’t the answer either.  

Newt would be here if it were at all possible, of that she was certain.  It was merely the last in a long list of poor luck that put the lid on what Tina might call the best year of her life, littered with some of the worst luck known to man or woman or beast.  

1927 had been full of ups and downs, although Tina had to admit, they were mostly ups.  

She and Newt had gotten closer through their written correspondence and two weekend visits that still made her blush crimson whenever she thought about them.  So close that she was almost  _ hoping _ that Newt’s New Year’s visit would bring about the next step in their relationship.  

Tina wasn’t an old-fashioned woman by any measure of the term, but everything about their relationship made her believe that a proposal wasn’t long away.  Marriage, or otherwise.  Like she said, she wasn’t old-fashioned. And she knew that Newt’s lifestyle might not allow for a wife or children.  But she loved him enough that she didn’t care about any of that.  So long as he wished to love her and her alone, that was enough for Tina. Nothing about their courtship had been traditional.  From the way they met to the very few nights they’d spent together, they were destined to create their own normal. 

But it didn’t appear  _ any _ of those hopes would come to fruition.  Not this year at least.  Newt had promised in his emergency owl that he’d try to come by in a few days.  But a few days would be well into 1928 and Tina had so hoped to begin the year with him by her side.

She glanced over at the sofa cushion beside her.  Empty.  If he were here, he’d be holding her hand, sending her nervous smiles at every coo and giggle from Queenie and Jacob’s general direction.  He’d be squeezing her hand and pressing furtive kisses to the back of it whenever the thought crossed his mind.    

She swallowed the rest of her wine and stood to pour another glass.  If she had to be alone, but not  _ alone _ , she might as well embrace it.   

* * *

He couldn’t believe his good luck.  It was as if the planets had aligned and given him this one simple chance to ring in the new year with Tina.  With whom he’d very much like to ring in the rest of his new years.  

His hand ventured down to his pocket, slipping inside and closing around the tiny wooden box he had tucked there.  He put some more spring into his step as he made his way down the wet and snowy sidewalk towards his brother’s flat.  

His case was snugly clutched in one hand, bouncing slightly against his leg as he walked just a bit faster than he normally did.  He didn’t want to waste one second more than he had to.  He only had so many.

Or so few.    

Rapping on Theseus’ door, he waited impatiently, reaching for his watch to check the time.  Four-eighteen a.m.  It was early.   _ Rather _ early.     

Or late, depending on how one chose to look at it.  He supposed for him it was late.  For his brother and his wife?  Likely early.  But he’d contacted Theseus long before he’d begun his rushed journey from his office at the ministry across town.  

It was already January first here in London, but it wasn’t quite yet in America.  And Newt had a beautiful woman to surprise.  He’d be flooing from his brother’s parlour to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, leaving with just enough time to run to the Goldstein sisters’ apartment.

It was his brother who answered the door, smiling in that exhaustedly happy sort of way he always seemed to have lately.  

“Newt.  Right on time.  Happy New Year.”  

“Same to you, Theseus…”  Newt stepped inside, kicking the snow and slush off his boots before stepping into the foyer.  “And how was yours and Leta’s evening?”  

“Ran rather late… Leta’s only just gone to bed.  And yourself? How was work?”  

“I had a birth that ran long,” he replied.  “Successful.  Mother and child are resting well…” he patted the side of his case.  “Shouldn’t need anything until I get back tomorrow.  Just double her normal feed.”  

Theseus nodded once and gingerly took the case from him.  “Mind if I fix that lock, Newton?  It’s been bothering me every single time I see it…”  

Newt shrugged.  “If you must.”  

“I must,” his brother assured him.  “Even if you need to stay longer…”  

He shook his head.  “Don’t tempt me… there are things I’ll need to attend to.  I can’t simply run away to New York.”  

“Isn’t that what you’re doing anyway?”  

“I’m running  _ to _ New York.  There is a difference.”  Newt smirked and walked down the hallway towards the parlour.  “Floo in the same place?” 

“As always,” Theseus replied, smiling a little as Newt reached for the floo powder.  

“M.A.C.U.S.A, Department of Magical Law Enforcement,”  Newt said clearly before throwing the powder.   

* * *

With a scant thirty seconds until the new year began, the last thing Tina was expecting was a knock on the door.  

But that’s precisely what happened.  

Inhaling deeply, she rose from the couch and crossed the floor, wondering who on earth could be calling at this time of night.  She shot a quick glance in Queenie’s direction, who hurriedly tugged Jacob from the kitchen and into one of the back rooms.  

If it was Mrs. Esposito, they definitely couldn’t let her see Jacob here.

Tina opened the door and all the air left her lungs. Not Mrs. Esposito.  Not in the slightest. 

“Newt…” she murmured, reaching out to brush her fingers over his coat.  As if he weren't real.  He couldn't be real.  Not here in front of her and real.  It wasn’t possible.  

“Tina…” he replied, just as softly.  

She glanced around his shoulder and tugged him into the apartment.  “What are you doing here?  I thought one of your creatures was giving birth!”  

“The nundus?  Yes.  It’s finished.  Both mother and offspring are doing well,” he said with a laugh.  “So I thought I’d floo over for the new year…” he glanced towards the clock just as it struck twelve.  “Looks like I made it just in time.”  

Tina’s heart fluttered and she leaned forward to kiss him.  Their lips met in a flurry of movement.  His arms snaked around her waist to hold her close as she tilted her head to better meet him.  His lips were cool from being outside, but Tina didn’t care.  

He was here.  And she didn’t care how he’d gotten here.  

“Wait…” she broke off the kiss, pulling back.  “What do you mean, ‘you thought you’d floo over’?  The international floo network’s been shut down since June.”  

“MACUSA has an open channel to my brother’s parlour that he let me use,” Newt said.  “All on the up and up, I swear.”  

Tina pressed her lips together.  “I’m sure it’s not supposed to be used for personal reasons.”

He held out his hands.  “Arrest me.”  

“You know I won’t.”  

He smirked, reaching into his pocket instead.  “Happy New Year, Tina.”  

“Happy New Year, Newt...oh…”  Her eyes widened as he produced a small wooden box from his pocket.  “Is that...?”  

Popping it open, he nodded.  “It is.  Will you...?”

The ring glittered even in the dim light, she suspected it had been enchanted in some way.  “Oh Newt… it’s beautiful…”  

“To match the woman who would be wearing it,” he replied.  “Tina, will you?”  

“Newt, of course I will.”  

“Then it truly  _ will _ be a happy new year, won’t it?”

She beamed, holding out her hand so he could slip the ring on.  “It really will.”     


End file.
